There are many ways to do fine work. One approach starts by being grateful for the gifts you have been given. It then involves following certain guidelines to do your best to do great work.
Different people follow this approach in different ways. Whichever route they take, however, this can involve focusing on the following themes.
Gifts
The first step is for people to be grateful for the gifts they may have been given. These may include being given the gifts of life, love, encouragement, talents, strengths, opportunities and material things.
Some people talk about being given the gifts of inspiration, stimulation, ideas and education. Some even talk about setbacks being gifts because these inspired them to do certain things in their lives or work.
Sometimes we don’t know how the gifts arrive. Paul Simon describes how, when he was 21, his song The Sound Of Silence seemed to come from out of nowhere when he was strumming his guitar in the bathroom.
Some people find that creative ideas may arrive when they are walking, sleeping or doing other activities. Whilst there are no guarantees, they then do things that give them positive energy and can lead to inspiration.
Different people have different approaches to the gifts they have been given. Some people take they following approach.
They feel grateful and cannot claim credit for being given certain kinds of gifts;
They feel they have a responsibility, however, for making good use of these gifts;
They feel they want to focus on one or more these gifts and use these to do good things during their time on the planet.
Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach in your own way. One approach is to start by describing some of the gifts you feel you have been given in your life or work.
You may have had people who encouraged you at different times in your life. You may have certain strengths and the ability to do certain kinds of work. You may also have other personal or professional assets.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
Guidelines
Imagine that you have described some of the gifts you have been given in your life and work. You may then wish to translate these gifts into action. If so, you may want to explore the following themes.
The Gifts
One approach is to focus on one or more of the gifts you want to build on. You can then translate this into working towards achieve certain specific goals. Much depends, of course, on the nature of the gifts.
Some gifts may be emotional – such as being given love and encouragement.
Some gifts may be experiential – such as what you learned from a positive or negative experience.
Some gifts may more tangible – such as wanting to build on some of your strengths.
Imagine that you have chosen to focus on one of the gifts you have been given. If appropriate, you can then move on to the next step.
The Goals
Great workers build on their gifts when aiming to work towards achieving certain specific goals. Much depends, of course, on the kind of gift they want to translate into action.
Imagine that a person has been encouraged in their life. They may then, when appropriate, aim to encourage other people. Such a person may explore the following themes before translating this gift into action.
Who is the specific person I want to encourage? How can I encourage them in their life or work? If appropriate, how can I ask if it is okay to help them to work towards achieving a goal? How can I then do my best to help them to achieve their specific goal?
Imagine that a person wants to build on specific strength they have been given. They may ask themselves the following questions.
What is the specific strength I want to build on? How can I translate this into action? What are the specific goals I want to achieve? What will be the benefits of achieving these goals? What is the picture of success?
Imagine that you have translated one or more of the gifts you have been given into working to achieve specific goals. If appropriate, you can then move on to the next step.
The Guidelines
Great workers often follow certain guidelines – certain strategies – when working towards achieving a goal. Different people do this in different ways. Some people go through the following steps.
They build on their strengths by recalling how they reached a similar goal in the past and how they may be able to follow some of these strategies in the present situation.
They then explore all the many various options going forwards – and the consequences of each option – before settling on their chosen strategy for achieving the goals.
They prepare properly by mentally rehearsing pursuing their chosen strategy and also managing any challenges on the way towards achieving the goals.
Imagine that you have worked through some of these steps. If appropriate, you may want to summarise these by doing the following exercise.
First, describe the specific gift you want to translate into action. Second, describe the specific goals you want to achieve. Third, describe the specific guidelines you can follow to do your best to achieve these goals.
Imagine that you are aiming to translate one of your gifts into action. You are also working towards achieving certain goals. If appropriate, you may also sometimes focus on the following theme.
Great Work
There are many models for doing such work. One approach is to do the necessary grunt work, do good work and then, if possible, do great work. Let’s explore how you may follow this path in your own way.
Grunt Work
This step involves doing the necessary grunt work for providing the platform for doing great work. Different people will do this in different ways depending on their chosen work.
The gardener continues to create fertile ground in which things can grow. The aspiring actor works in repertory theatres to develop their skills. The sports team attends boot camp to master the basics that will later enable them to deliver brilliance.
People are often happy to do the grunt work providing they can see how it will contribute to doing the great work. Some actually love this part of journey towards achieving their picture of success.
Good Work
This step involves developing the habit of doing consistently good work. This is an approach that many workers continue to follow throughout their lives.
Great workers often have a pattern of starting to produce good work in their early careers. They may do this when working as a writer, chef, teacher, carpenter or in another role. They then begin to develop consistency.
Some young footballers, for example, sometimes produce good performances but then fall away. Some commit themselves to their careers and focus on continuous improvement. This can result in them beginning to deliver consistently good performances.
Great Work
Great workers sometimes go into another dimension. They build on their strengths and follow certain strategies. They may then do something special to reach their goals. Let’s look at some examples.
Michael Murphy and Rhea White describe how great performers take this step in their book In The Zone. This explores transcendent experiences in sports, the arts and other fields.
One section describes how Mikhail Baryshnikov aimed to take ballet into another dimension. The authors do this by using the following quote from Herbert Saal, the ballet reporter.
The most exquisitely chilling weapon in the arsenal of this complete dancer was his ballon, his ability to ascend in the air and stay there, defying gravity, especially in the double tour en l’air, in which the male dancer revolves two full times before landing.
The Stuttgart Ballet’s Richard Cragun can turn three times in a blur of motion. But Baryshnikov did it in slow motion. And it was unbelievable.
He blasted off with the hesitation and majesty of a spaceship. He turned – once, twice – and every thread on his costume was plainly visible as he soared high above the audience like an astronaut looking back at earth.
There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to be grateful for the gifts you have been given. It is then to set specific goals, follow your chosen guidelines and do great work.
Imagine that you have followed these steps. If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on these themes. This invites you to describe the specific things you can do to do your best to perform great work.
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